Meals on Wheels will keep rolling through shutdown

Henry Hammond, a Meals on Wheels program coordinator at Interfaith Ministries, delivers meals to Betty Carter for her and her sister on March 12, 2013, in Houston. (Melissa Phillip | Houston Chronicle)

The Houston-area Meals on Wheels program that provides nutrition to seniors throughout Harris County – mostly through federal funding – will continue despite political gridlock in Washington.

“We received a notice from the state just yesterday that said, at this time, we’re not anticipating any impact,” Deborah Moore, director of the Harris County Area Agency of Aging, said Thursday. “Given that, we are proceeding. We have not in any way modified our meals program as a result of the shutdown.”

Through a contractor, the local program funds home-delivered meals to 4,000 to 4,200 seniors daily as well as 1,800 to 2,000 meals to several dozen area senior centers where people come for meals, socialization, nutrition education and exercise. The federal money is provided through the Older Americans Act.

A statement posted on DADS website said: “For the immediate future, our programs serving Texans who are older and those with intellectual, developmental or physical disabilities will continue uninterrupted. Texas health and human services agencies are monitoring the federal fiscal environment and will continue to assess the effects any federal decisions may have on our programs or consumers, and will keep you updated as the situation changes.”

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Welcome to the Chronicle's Houston Advocate blog, written by reporter Cindy George. The Advocate is the newspaper's consumer affairs and government watchdog column, with a mission to expose unfairness and help set things right for our readers.
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